Like all countries, Mongolia has specialized laws regarding immigration and nationality. The Mongolian Constitution indicates that the grounds and procedure for determining Mongolian nationality, or for acquisition or loss of citizenship shall be defined by the law.
The Current Law of Mongolia on Citizenship was enacted in 1995 and it has been updated four times since then. According to the law, Mongolian citizens shall not be allowed to hold citizenship of a foreign nation and maintain their Mongolian nationality. Further, if a foreigner wishes to acquire Mongolian citizenship, he or she is required to give up any prior citizenship.
Under Mongolian Law, there are four ways an individual may become a Mongolian Citizen:
- If both of the parents of a child are Mongolian then the child is automatically Mongolian. It doesn’t matter where the child is born. (In some circumstances it is possible for Mongolian parents living abroad to request the child become a citizen of a foreign country.)
- A child born to one Mongolian parent within the territory of Mongolia is also automatically Mongolian.
- A child who is within the territory of Mongolia whose parents are not identified is designated a Mongolian citizen.
- Individuals of foreign nationalities may apply for citizenship via the President’s office, or through a Mongolian embassy.
- Mongolians who are adopted by foreigners maintain “the right to choose his/her own nationality” according to the Family law of Mongolia.
Interestingly, approximately 16 thousand Mongolian citizens report having a dual citizenship, with most of them are women and children. Over the last 20 years an estimated 59,000 citizens withdrew their Mongolian citizenship while citizenship was awarded to only 221 individuals (not including new births within Mongolia).
A total of 250 Mongolian children have been adopted by foreign citizens, including family members. There are concerns that the Law should be amended to allow an adopted child to maintain his/her native citizenship until turning 18 years old. Until this change is made, Mongolian law will not be aligned with international convention regarding rights of children.
For this reason, the President, Ts.Elbegdorj has proposed amendment of Law of Mongolia on Citizenship, and has submitted relevant drafts legislation to the Parliament for consideration. It is expected that this change will be officially passed later this year.